Today's element is Germanium, which has the atomic symbol Ge and the atomic number 32. This is a hard but brittle and very lustrous silvery-white semi-metallic solid that acts as a semiconductor. It is used to make transistors in electronic devices and special glass for fibre optics. It is also used in infrared optics and in solar panels. But most of us have met Germanium because it is used to make wide-angle camera lenses due to its high refractive index.

In this video, our favourite chemistry Professor tells us more about Germanium:

Hrm, but surely, Gallium was the first element in the Periodic Table named for a country, right? It was named for France (Gaul), unless you actually think it was named for either its discoverer, or for chickens (Gallus gallus)!

Germanium is rare, and for that reason, it was discovered fairly late. But thanks to his Periodic Table of Elements, Mendeleev predicted Germanium's existence long before it was discovered. He named it "eka-silicon" (Es) due to its position directly below Silicon in the periodic table, and estimated its atomic weight to be approximately 72.64 (its discoverer, Clemens Winkler, found Germanium's atomic weight to be 72.59).

Despite some claims that long-term consumption of Germanium has health benefits for humans, it is probably not an essential trace element, and in fact, some compounds containing Germanium are recognised as human health hazards according to USDA studies. Interestingly, some Germanium compounds appear to be bacteriocidal and are currently being studied for use in chemotherapy.